


Tell me a story

by TwigstheShifter



Category: Lupin III
Genre: Bedtime Stories, M/M, Sharing a Bed, loopzoop, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22434109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwigstheShifter/pseuds/TwigstheShifter
Summary: Lupin has a nightmare and it's up to Pops to cheer him up
Relationships: Arsène Lupin III/Zenigata Kouichi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 69





	Tell me a story

“Hey Pops?” Lupin whispered as he approached Zenigata’s tent. They were on a stakeout together, on one of the rare occasions where they were working for the same side.

There was a rustle before the door of the tent was unzipped, and a very tired looking Zenigata slowly stuck his head out to frown at the younger man. “What do you want.”

“I, um, I had a nightmare.” Lupin looked away, “Jigen said to fuck off, so I was wondering...could I sleep with you tonight?”

He looked Lupin up and down, there didn’t seem to be any ulterior motives. He sighed, and unzipped the door the rest of the way. A clear invitation that Lupin gladly took. Unlike Jigen, Zenigata did away with sleeping bags a long time ago for the maneuverability of just blankets. However, not expecting company, the blankets were in a gnarled nest more than a bed. Still, Lupin gladly took his spot next to the other.

Though he would never admit it, Zenigata immediately recognized that there was something very wrong with Lupin. The evening was warm, but the poor boy was shivering like a leaf. He sighed, he knew what it was like to have nightmares like that, and he knew how much a little kindness helps when your mind is in that kind of state.

“Try to get some sleep ok?” Zenigata pulled up his blankets towards his chest, then pat the thief’s side reassuringly. When Lupin was silent, he knew something was off. “Hey you know what helps me get to sleep? I tell myself a little story.”

“Really?” Lupin propped his head up with his hand.

“Yeah. My mom used to tell me stories when I was little and as I got older I kinda...kept it up.” Zenigata gestured vaguely with his hands, “It’s kind of like a soothing thing.”

Lupin scooted closer to him, looking up at him with those big brown eyes, “Will you tell me a story, Pops?”

How could he say no to that.

The inspector cleared his throat before beginning, “Once upon a time-”

“Ugh that’s so overused.”

“Do you want a story or not?” Pops growled then continued, “-before the planets were the way they are, they were all jumbled up in a huge mess. So, to tidy them up, the sun assigned each one a guardian. Mercury had a big boastful lion with a wild mane of flames, Venus had a wise old tortoise, Saturn had a long twisty weasel, Jupiter had a large motherly elephant, Uranus had a lazy snake, Neptune had a crane with beautiful feathers, Pluto-”

“Pluto’s not a planet.”

“Yes it is. Anyways, Pluto had a little bookish mouse, Earth had a big grumpy rhino, and Mars had a monkey.”

“Just a monkey?” Lupin narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Yep. Nothing special about it.”

“No character traits like the rest?”

“Nope. Just a monkey.” Zenigata teasingly stuck his tongue out and gave Lupin a big shit eating grin. “However, the sun didn’t plan out a guardian for the moon. She’d already given moons to many other planets to watch over, but she wasn’t exactly sure where the moon moon should go. So, in order to stay fair, she decided to hold a race to see who was the most fit to watch over it. A few guardians backed out, since they already had enough moons to worry about, but a few were very interested in the race. In particular, the lion. So as the race day approached, the lion bullied out little Pluto from participating, threatening to eat her if she dared enter.”

“Wow. Asshole.” Lupin snuggled up onto Zenigata’s chest, cheek resting on the older man’s powerful shoulder, listening very intently to the story now.

“No kidding. Now even though the rhino was originally not planning on entering, as soon as he heard what the lion had done, he knew he had to join. But, the catch was that the rhino wasn’t particularly fast. Sure he was faster than the tortoise, but there was no way he was going to win against the lion without help. So, grudgingly, he went to the sneakiest guardian of the bunch, the monkey.”

“Ha. Knew he had a character trait.” the thief smiled tiredly before yawning.

“Well all monkeys are sneaky. It just fits.” Zenigata turned his head to face the ceiling and closed his eyes but kept telling his story, “Together the monkey and the rhino came up with a plan to make sure the lion wouldn’t win. Right where the turn behind the sun would be, the monkey would switch the sign around so the lion would run off towards the guardians that were staying home. The day of the race had finally arrived, and the lion was already at it. He was saying he was the greatest, that the others should give up then because it was a done deal that he was going to win, and so on. He was boasting all the way until the starting line.”

“Mhmm.” Lupin loved the sound of the inspector’s voice rumbling in his chest.

“When the sun finally arrived, the lion was suddenly silent. She looked over the entrants, the tortoise, the lion, the rhino, and the monkey, noting the lack of the mouse. The lion quickly told her that the mouse wasn’t feeling well that day. The sun, not knowing of the lion’s threats, believed him and started the race as planned. When the bell sounded, the lion shot out, the flames from his mane trailing behind him like a comet. The rhino felt his heart drop, there was no way he would catch up. He turned his mighty head to call for the monkey, when he saw him swinging nimbly through the stars, up and past the lion. He knew he could count on that bastard to come up with some trick that’d give him an edge. Emboldened, the rhino surged forward, enough to be only a few paces behind the lion. Caught by surprise by the rhino’s speed, the lion started to sprint, not noticing the sign was pointed the wrong way as he neared the turn behind the sun. Just as planned, the lion went off into the solar system, leaving the rhino in first. By the time the lion realized he was going the wrong way, the rhino had already won. He was going to be the guardian of the moon.”

When Zenigata opened his eyes, he heard a small snore coming from his side. Glancing down, he saw the thief curled up against his side, with his face pressed against his pec. The inspector couldn’t help but smile softly.

“And, as a sign of his devotion, the rhino let the monkey have the moon once a month.” he bent down to plant a kiss the other’s forehead, “the end.”

**Author's Note:**

> two fics in one day? It's more likely than you think
> 
> Especially when you don't edit them


End file.
